Stardust (2007)

Tagline: A star falls. The chase begins.

From the imaginations of best-selling author Neil Gaiman and director Matthew Vaughn comes “Stardust,” the enchanting tale of a fallen star who crashes into a magical kingdom – and turns out to be no ordinary meteorite at all, but a beautiful, imperiled woman chased after by an incredible array of seekers who want or need her secret powers.

From wicked witches to power-mad princes, from flying pirates to dueling goblins, each person who encounters the star has his or her own agenda, but they all desire just one thing: her heart. The result is a rip-roaring tale of true love and high adventure that mixes and matches all the grand themes and imagination-sparking elements that have ever caused anyone of any age to fall in love with fairy tales.

“Stardust” begins in the sleepy English village of Wall, so named for the cobblestone wall that has, for eons, kept the villagers safely apart form the supernatural parallel universe that lies just on the other side. It is here that young Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) makes a wild-eyed promise to the prettiest girl in the village (Sienna Miller), whose heart he hopes to win: that he will bring her back a fallen star. Now, in order to make good on his promise, Tristan will have to cross the forbidden wall and enter a mysterious kingdom lit by unending magic and legends of which he will quickly become a part.

In this fantastical realm known as Stormhold, Tristan discovers that the fallen star is not at all what he expected but a spirited young woman (Claire Danes) injured by her cosmic tumble. Now, she is in terrible danger – sought after by colossal powers including the King’s (Peter O’Toole) scheming sons for whom only she can secure the throne; and a chillingly powerful witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) desperate to use the star to achieve eternal youth and beauty. As Tristan sets out to protect the star and bring her back to his beloved on the other side of the wall, his journey will bring incredible encounters with a pirate captain (Robert DeNiro) and a shady trader. But if he can survive by his wits and the strength of his newfound love, Tristan will also uncover the secret key to his own identity and a fate beyond his wildest dreams.

Stardust is a 2007 film adaptation of the 1999 Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, Stardust. The romantic fantasy adventure film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. The film features an ensemble cast led by Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Jason Flemyng, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Peter O’Toole, with narration by Ian McKellen.

The film follows Tristan, a young man from the fictional town of Wall. Wall is a town on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. Tristan enters the magical world to collect a fallen star to give to his crush Victoria, in return for her hand in marriage. He collects the star who, to his surprise, is a woman named Yvaine. Witches and the Princes of Stormhold are also hunting for Yvaine. Meanwhile Tristan tries to get her back to Wall with him before Victoria’s birthday, the deadline of her offer.

The film was released to positive reviews and grossed $135.6 million[3] on a $70 million budget.[4] In 2008, it won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.[5] Stardust was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD on December 18, 2007, by Paramount Home Entertainment.

About The Production

In the magical land of Stormhold, just on the other side of the everyday Victorian village of Wall, a blazing star has fallen from the sky. This star is no ordinary meteorite but a beautiful young woman whose long tumble through the cosmos has instantly left her in peril – her secret powers now chased after by an incredible array of seekers. From a love-struck young villager who needs the star to win his beloved; to a ferociously wicked witch determined to gain back her eternal youth; to a covetous prince who will stop at nothing to beat out the competition for his father’s throne; to a supernatural series of spell-casters, goblins and even a flying pirate – everyone the star encounters has an agenda, some good, some evil, yet they all desire just one thing: her heart.

The result is “Stardust,” a rip-roaring romantic adventure that mixes and matches all the grand themes and imagination-sparking elements that have ever caused anyone of any age to fall in love with fairy tales.

Unfolding on both sides of a parallel universe separated by only a thin barrier of stone, “Stardust” reveals just how amazingly close the familiar and the totally fantastic can be to one another. Starring an extraordinary cast of exciting newcomers, rising stars and Hollywood legends – including Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jason Flemyng, Henry Cavill, Ian McKellan, Rupert Everett, Peter O’Toole, Ricky Gervais, Nathaniel Parker, Sarah Alexander, Kate Magowan, Melanie Hill and Joanna Scanlon – “Stardust” is this summer’s most original escape into enchantment.

The inspiration for the film’s epic chase after an unexpected fallen star began with one of today’s most visionary and bestselling authors: Neil Gaiman, whose award-winning works span from novels to comic books to screenplays, each marked by a limitless sense of imagination and penchant for spinning memorable tales. In 1997, Gaiman published Stardust, a fireside-style fairy story that unfolded in a four-book DC Comics miniseries, featuring breathtaking illustrations from Charles Vess. When it was released a year later in book form, Stardust hit the bestseller lists and was named as one of the best novels of the year.

Among both critics and readers, the story drew comparisons to “The Princess Bride” and “The Neverending Story” with its mix of humor and magic, not to mention its whole-cloth creation of an original enchanted kingdom where a shooting star could be a stunning young woman who inspires an ordinary village boy to become the heroic young man of his dreams.

The story quickly became that very rare thing: a modern classic fairytale. “I set out in the beginning to tell a story about a young man who goes after his heart’s desire only to discover it isn’t his heart’s desire,” says Gaiman of the novel. “I started with that one idea in my head and followed that all the way to the end – and was very proud when I got there that the story did what I had set out.”

While Gaiman may have set out simply to spin a great yarn, once it hit the light of day and won over fans of all ages, Stardust seemed destined for the big screen. From its initial publication, there was talk of what an epic cinematic experience the tale could become in our contemporary era of high-tech movie-making and special effects. But, intriguingly, it took the passion of an indie director best known for his skill with the visceral and the gritty, Matthew Vaughn, to make this fantastic world come to life on screen with all its simple storybook charm intact.

Vaughn had earlier come to the fore as the producer of the fast-paced, fun-loving, influential British action comedies “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch,” and made an acclaimed directorial debut with the clever gangster thriller “Layer Cake” featuring Daniel Craig in the role that helped to win him the iconic part of James Bond. Although the far sweeter, fairy tale territory of Stardust was a complete change of gears for Vaughn, he had been hooked by the story in mere moments of reading. Like all of Stormhold, Vaughn was quickly seduced by the meteoric beauty and all the characters who would use her in one way or another.